About Me

I'm proud to be a working mom, with two terrific kids (ages 8 and 11). I got my Ph.D. in applied psychology back in 2000. We moved to upstate NY from Philadelphia in 2006, and I'm now working as a researcher at SUNY Upstate Medical University. I'm a knee-jerk liberal, though I grew up in very red-state Arizona. I'm passionate about movies and politics. Sadly, I've now spent over a DECADE eating gluten-free, so I'm always on the lookout for great gluten-free foods.

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Misquotations

"I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” - Mark Twain

But it turns out that it's both mistated and misattributed ~

"All men have an emotion to kill; when they strongly dislike some one they involuntarily wish he was dead. I have never killed any one, but I have read some obituary notices with great satisfaction." - Clarence Darrow

The issue is discussed quite humorously here - there are some funny folks lurking on the web! I especially liked these:

"It seems that, whenever people have a clever, folksy quote and don’t know who said it, they ascribe it to Mark Twain. If they have a clever catty quote and don’t know who said it, they ascribe it to Oscar Wilde. If they have a sort-of-stupid quote and don’t know who said it, they ascribe it to Yogi Berra. If they have what they think is a profound, inspirational quote, they’ll ascribe it to Gandhi or to some Native American chief."

"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine." --Abraham Lincoln

"I have had many emails from young Russian women seeking to marry a rich American, but I can never tell if they are genuine." - Ben Franklin

"It was Thomas Jefferson who put it best:

Dear Mr. Nigerian Prince,
Your business offer intrigues me, and I would like to send you my bank account information post-haste.
Right after you kiss my ass! What, do you think I was born but a fortnight ago?
Yours, Thomas '2nd most badass president after Teddy Roosevelt' Jefferson"